Scarring
by Lucrece01
Summary: AU. Social outcasts, thieves, murderers: the captain leads his motley band of soldiers to pursue mercenary goals, amassing fabulous riches that draw the ire of the overlord. The wise wizard sits in his castle, redrawing boundaries and stoking wars. A chance discovery leads Sergeant Granger to suspect that there is more to this mercenary business than meets the eye.
**Chapter 1**

* * *

I suckled my lower lip, grazing sharp teeth over it.

"Well?"

I shot the redhead a look of frustration.

His tiny blue eyes danced in glee, anticipating victory. I glared at the chess board, thinking hard.

Just then, the nearby tent flap flew wide open, ejecting a pale blonde boy with a pointed face. He stumbled over the rough terrain and landed on his knees, wiping his brows with the back of his sleeves.

"Get the boy cleaned up and ready, will you? Take him to Sprout—she should be able to employ him in the kitchen," the captain yelled from inside the tent, his guttural voice like the scraping of metal over stone, and I saw my chance.

 _This_ was the new recruit?

"Duty calls," I commented to Weasley, tilting my head. He shrugged, pouting. "We'll finish this some other time."

"Come on." I grabbed the boy's collar and ushered him onward. To his credit, he did not fight back or retort. It was a good shirt too, if a little torn. "What's your name?"

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," he said in a hoarse voice as we made our way through the thicket of trees towards the looming rock face.

"Well, Draco Malfoy— _weird name by the way_ —what the heck did you do to infuriate the captain?" I asked, parting a few shrubs. My feet itched in the heavy boots and I realised, not for the first time, I hadn't bathed in two days.

"Nothing," he said moodily. Birds chirped overhead—an overcast sky lessening the sun's heat—and I dug into my pockets for a handkerchief.

"Clean that up before someone else asks you the same question," I said, pointing to the thin trail of blood dripping down his jaw. He took it gingerly, avoiding my eye. "So, what did you do?"

He mumbled something under his breath and I raised my eyebrow.

"In here, we yell when we want people to hear us," I informed him, mimicking a loudspeaker with my bare hands. "Got it? Now try those words again."

"I told him I wouldn't clean chamber-pots." He made a face, as if the mere mention of chamber-pots somehow affected his sensibilities.

Ah. So he was one of those.

I clicked my tongue.

"Why not?"

He puffed up in pride.

"I belong to the Malfoy clan, one of the oldest families in these parts—we don't clean chamber-pots."

I scratched the side of my head.

So he was a _noble_ twerp.

"Well, _Master Malfoy_ ," I said, snatching back my soiled handkerchief, "out here, in the wilds, we do things differently. You know how? We follow orders. _Period_. No matter how beneath our high-and-mighty selves the tasks maybe, we don't refuse: that's lesson number one for you. The captain tells you to clean chamber pots, you do it. He tells you to lick the mud off his bloody boots, you stuff your nose with cotton and get down to _licking_."

He appeared dumbfounded.

"Why?"

I stopped in my tracks, whirling around suddenly to surprise and intimidate him.

"Why?" I grabbed his collar again, looking straight into his glass-grey eyes. "Because, _your highness_ , our survival in this world depends on following orders. _Got that_? That's lesson number two: survival equals duty. You're new, so I'll let this pass, but don't take leniency for permission. And next time, don't let me hear you say the word ' _no'_ around camp. Yes?"

He looked ready to argue but I narrowed my eyes at him further and he conceded.

Up ahead, I saw smoke rising behind the tall rock and my stomach rumbled loudly. The Malfoy twerp probably noticed but I ignored him, marching casually ahead of him and all the way up to the large fire where they cooked meals for all the inmates of our camp.

* * *

I sat on haunches, using a toothpick, and generally ignoring everyone around me.

Well, unless it was the captain or the lieutenant.

They gave orders and those… well; you couldn't refuse those now, could you?

"Sergeant Granger."

"Yes, twerp."

"The captain wants to see you in his tent."

I cursed under my breath.

Night duty again.

The blonde boy stood uncertainly, waiting for an answer.

"Fine. I got your message. Now scram."

I watched bemusedly as the boy scurried away towards Flitwick's tent, like a dog with its tail tucked between his legs.

"It's going to be night duty again for you, Granger," Longbottom materialised from nowhere.

"Bingo, Neville." I threw away the toothpick and straightened up to face him. "What's your assignment?"

"Gathering poison-ivies."

I raised my eyebrows several inches.

"Amongst other plants of medicinal importance," he added hastily, looking sideways.

"Can't afford another mishap like the one at Two Kittens, eh?"

"No." He crossed his arms defensively, glaring at me. "You shouldn't keep the captain waiting."

I threw up my hands, as if his non-verbal tripe could affect my inured sensibilities, and took off.

* * *

"—in exactly two hours from dawn, we make our move. It shouldn't be a problem—the locals are unaware as well as unarmed, unless you count kitchen implements as weapons. We go in from west, there's no protective boundary there. We'll take out the night watch, overpower the mayor's household and capture him—the rest of the village will surrender as quickly as they can so as to be rid of us. We take our loot and leave these areas. This entire operation won't last more than four hours."

Light tremors shook my fingers as Lieutenant Potter underlined the plan for tonight's raid.

"Granger?"

"Yes."

"You will cooperate, won't you?" Lieutenant Potter asked, eyeing my face closely. "I understand that this was your village—"

"They're my people—" I protest. "My family is in there—my little brother, my mother—all of them—"

"We're not burning down the village, Granger," Potter said. "We need the funds. Besides, these are the same people that sold you to us, for a throwaway price too—you have no family out there; we are the only family you have left."

I swallowed.

He made a good point.

"But—"

"No buts, Granger. You scout ahead, an hour from now, and report the findings to me." Lieutenant Potter's gaudy green eyes rankled me every time. "Take Dean Thomas with you. He's—"

"I am quite capable of performing my duty without being watched like a hawk, Lieutenant," I grumbled, knowing fully well how childlike I sounded.

Potter scanned my face, looking for signs of alarm or defiance but he saw none.

"As you wish." He nodded.

Just then, the tent flap opened and the Captain walked in.

His pale face had always given me cold shivers and the malicious turn of his inky black eyes could carve the hardest stone.

"Potter," he acknowledged the Lieutenant first. "Granger."

We stood straighter, our eyes meeting in confusion.

His raven hair was slick, a thin jagged scar lining his jaw. I had always wondered how he acquired it but never had the courage to enquire. He turned away from us and noticed the plunder-plan drawn out before me.

My eyes landed on his wrist and I could discern a dark wispy line move along his nerves. It looked-alive.

"Something the matter, Granger?"

"What—No." I looked away quickly. "No problem, captain."

"Good," he said, unfastening the cord around his neck that held his cloak in place. "Lieutenant Potter must have apprised you of the plan by now."

I nodded, and for a brief second, my eyes met his.

They were cold—black and empty, like a vast labyrinth of interconnected tunnels lay under them and l held his gaze for as long as I could mange, not keen on averting my eyes.

"You are not to join the subsequent raid, Granger. You will set out to scout the area—even if they sight you somehow, you can make excuses since your family stays in the village. Having done that, you get back here as fast as you can. Am I understood?"

"Why can't I come along? After all and as you said, they are my people," I protested.

He paused, examining his filthy nails.

"You scout the area and return. _Am I understood, Granger?_ " he repeated in a low voice, giving no indication of having heard me and pinned me with a dangerous look.

"Yes, captain," I surrendered, swallowing.

"You're dismissed." He turned away. "Oh, and Granger? Report to Potter when you return and rest until we break camp. Come daylight-when we break camp, we will need your skills."

I tilted my head in acknowledgement, one hand idly caressing the flail that hung at my side and left.

* * *

I found myself perched atop a rock, stealing looks into the countryside.

My job for the night done, I was loath to retire but I dared not disobey direct orders from my captain. So I had reported my findings to lieutenant, declaring the area clear of watchful eyes, and crept to the farthest edge of the cliff beyond which my village lay.

I planned to see, even if I could not participate.

My village—what a damning idea that was.

My parents had sold me to the captain when I was just a few months short of turning ten. Most new recruits were the same age and most of them had been deserted by their families.

Hungering for fealty and affection, we took our motley bunch of castaways to heart as brothers and sisters, labouring to survive and prosper.

It was the only clan I had, the only group which commanded my loyalty and pride.

I bit my lip, squinting.

The village was drowned in darkness and I had to believe that it was the captain's orders being carried out. He had set out with a hundred of our most able troopers, amongst them Lieutenant Potter and Lieutenant Diggory at his side, and I had no doubts they would amass a rich bounty.

It was a prosperous village, after all.

"Sergeant Granger."

That annoying voice again.

"Yes, ferret."

A pause.

"What happened to 'twerp'?"

I shot him a glare.

"I changed my mind. You got a problem with that?"

He appeared rankled and shook his head quickly.

Having chastised him properly, I returned my attention to the scene unfolding just beyond the cliff. I adjusted my binoculars for maximum vision, clicking my tongue as I did, and cursed when the _ferret-twerp_ coughed again.

"What?" I snarled, not tearing my eyes away from the binoculars.

"Um, I—" he stuttered, testing my already worn out patience.

I gnashed my teeth, waiting for him to speak.

"Something's happening." Words leapt off my tongue before I could catch them. I jammed my eyes into the binoculars, anxiety filling my insides.

The village that had hitherto been shrouded in darkness, was lighting up, one house at a time, and I knew that something had gone wrong.

Horribly wrong.

"What's happening" Draco asked curiously, surveying the twinkling scenery before him. "I don't see anything."

"You need binoculars for that, you idiot," I snapped at him. "The village elders… I see our group, the black and silver cloaks—but the village elders aren't backing down… it's odd, never happened before. Most villages cower at the blare of our trumpets and spread out all their riches at our feet. This is—unusual."

The summer breeze whipped my face, blowing my curls heavenward like wisps of smoke.

"Unless they have a backing," he commented.

I looked at him in puzzlement.

"What do you mean?"

"It could be a trap, laid beforehand, to catch them unaware."

My mouth went dry.

I peered through the binoculars once more, hoping against hope that he was wrong.

That was the emotional part of me.

The logical, cruel—part of me sided with Draco's argument completely.

I gazed for a few seconds when the drama began.

The Lord's men began pouring forth from all nooks and crannies, their golden hides glinting mercilessly in the pale moonlight, and I gulped.

"Get—Dean Thomas," I croaked, still unable to tear myself away.

Our hundred men would fight a bitter battle tonight, out there, and it was my duty to get the others out safely since all the other officers were down there, with the captain.

 _How could he not have seen it comeing?_

 _How had I missed it?_

 _I had scouted the area and reported it clear; how was it possible?_

Draco stood before me in uncertainty.

"What—I don't understand…"

"Now, Malfoy! We're breaking camp—right now—tell everyone it's the Captain's orders from Sergeant Granger." I shot up, wrapping my fingers around the leather flail. "We move east—now."

Panic showed in his face and he took two steps back.

"What about those—down there?"

I had my duty to perform.

This was my duty, getting the others away from here—before the Lord's men caught up with us.

"They'll fight their way through the trap and meet us on the other side. Don't dawdle, boy, go!" I barked at him once more.

He ran away like a hare, and I had to be going in a few seconds as well.

I stood silhouetted against the moonlight, watching him move among tents, shouting my orders.

I drew a long breath, prayed to whatever damned Gods there were in the world, and balled my hands into fists, ready to move.

* * *

 **AN: Hey guys. This is a new story. A new idea-that came to my mind some time back and here I am, writing about it. I don't know if you'll like it, but I really hope you do.**

 **Please review, it makes me write-better and faster each time. I promise to answer all reviews.**

 **Oh and if you hate it, please tell me so that I can discontinue and not waste my efforts.**

 **Love,**


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